Philly mayor defends rideshare tax proposal as district faces $300M deficit

The School District of Philadelphia is seeing test scores, attendance and graduation rates increase while drop out rates are decreasing, Mayor Cherelle Parker told members of City Council’s Committee of the Whole on Wednesday morning.

“We are doing something right,” she said.

Yet, the district needs help, she said, to bridge a $300 million budget deficit.

And, with a proposal for a new tax on rideshare trips, the mayor is looking for ways to bridge that budget gap.

Wednesday’s discussion before City Council’s Committee of the Whole was part of the biannual education hearing intended to help the district, city officials and the Board of Education to coordinate activities to benefit public education in the city.

Parker opened the meeting by highlighting successes from the district and also discussed federal cuts that, she claimed, created the $300 million budget gap that the district now faces.

“None of this has anything to do with mismanagement of funds,” she said. “The School District of Philadelphia has crossed its financial Ts and dotted its Is. They have made central office cuts. We are here today because that federal government stopped $300 million in revenue that our district received in order for it to function and we have to try to figure out a way to continue.”

In fact, last month, the district announced it would make $225 million in operating cuts during the 2026-2027 school year because of that loss of funding.

And, the district noted then, the cuts would be made without any teacher layoffs or budget and position cuts to the schools that have been recommended for closure in the district’s facilities plan.

The most recent version of that plan calls for 17 school facilities to be shuttered and increases spending from $2.8 billion to $3 billion.

Though, as recently as Tuesday, members of City Council have spoken out against, what they called, a “rushed vote” to approve that school closure plan.

A vote to approved that plan, officials said, is expected to happen on Thursday.

In discussing the need for funding for the city’s schools, Parker argued that Philly can’t raise property taxes to bridge the funding gap. And, she noted, Pa. Governor Josh Shapiro has been working with officials at a state level to help the city’s school district close the budget gap.

But, she said, something needs to be done immediately.

“Years of chronic underfunding, guess what, has caught up with us,” she said.

In deciding to present the proposal for a new $1 tax on rideshare trips — which she has said could lead to $50.4 million in new recurring revenue for the school district — Parker learned that, without new funding schools would see cuts because of the budget deficit.

Parker said she learned the district was looking at things that “scared” her, like larger class sizes, less academic and social supports for students, and less stability for schools making measurable progress.

“That was unacceptable to me,” she said.

That, she said, is what led to her proposal for the rideshare tax.

Parker implored city councilmembers to support her proposal.

“We have to work together in order to get it done,” she said.

As of 12:30 p.m., members of the School District of Philadelphia were speaking before City Council’s Committee of the Whole as the hearing continued.

NBC10 is still covering the hearing and will update this story throughout the event.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.